The standard weight lifting barbell consists of a straight elongated bar with collars near the ends thereof to retain weighted plates on the bar. The straight bar was used for many years for all types of weight lifting exercises, such as, by way of example, military and bench presses, curls, and tricep extensions.
However, it was found that the straight bar was not the best suited device for certain exercises because in using the straight bar the user's wrists were sometimes awkwardly positioned making such exercises more difficult, somewhat painful and possibly dangerous. Moreover, in order to properly isolate specific muscle groups during weight lifting exercises it is sometimes necessary for a user to position his arms in a particular rotational angle with respect to the bar, which, of course, is impossible considering the configuration of a straight bar. It is evident that with a standard barbell, there are only two basic positions in which a user's arms may be positioned, namely palms up and palms down. However, the distance between the user's hands may be adjusted to some degree, by positioning the same along the bar. Every other possible position of the arms is restrained by the fact that the bar is unitary and straight.
To overcome the problem of inadequate variation in the positioning user's arms with respect to the barbell, a number of different types of specialized barbells have been devised which permit the user to rotationally position his arms at a specific rotational angle with respect to an axis transverse to the barbell to perform certain exercises. For example, there is a curling barbell comprising a generally linear bar having V-shaped grip portions along its length so that the user can hold the bar with his wrists twisted inward (or outward) to avoid discomfort when performing curl exercises or to isolate certain muscle groups in the arm. There is also a tricep or extension bar which has two handles disposed perpendicular to the long axis of the barbell, so that, in use, the user's fists can face inward towards each other thereby better isolating the triceps. However, each of the foregoing prior art barbells has handles which are fixed in position relative to the long axis of the barbell. Thus, there is no barbell in the prior art which can be converted from a straight barbell to a curling barbell, tricep barbell or both, and further, is adjustable to any rotational angle desired by the user.
In addition, barbells, and particularly specialized barbells, such as the foregoing curling and tricep barbells are provided having a fixed length, with the handles thereof being a fixed and predetermined distance apart. This is a particular problem in the case of specialized bars, more than the standard barbells, because users are different sizes and their hands should be accordingly spaced corresponding distances apart. At least with standard barbells, the user can place his hands anywhere along the bar. However, because the specialized barbells have fixed handles, the user's arms must be positioned at the fixed distance apart. In addition, the handles for tricep bars are relatively close together, as compared with curling bar handles, which are approximately spaced shoulder distance apart. None of the prior art barbells, standard or specialized, have handles, the distance between which can be varied.
The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art providing a unitary device having rotating handles capable of acting as a standard barbell, tricep bar and curling bar, and optionally, having handles that can be adjustably spaced apart.